Domestic terrorismU.S. learning from Canada to combat domestic radicalization
The United States is partnering with Canada to learn how to better address the increasing threat from the domestic radicalization of Muslim Americans; the United States is looking to learn how Canadian law enforcement agencies have developed relationships with Muslim communities; for the past several years the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has been actively focusing on reaching out to Muslim communities and other groups that are the target of terrorist investigations; Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies placed domestic radicalization at the top of its priorities several years ago; domestic radicalization only recently became a national priority in the United States after a slew of failed attacks were perpetrated by American Muslims
Prisons are fertile ground for radicalization efforts // Source: csmonitor.com
The United States is partnering with Canada to learn how to better address the increasing threat from the domestic radicalization of Muslim Americans.
DHS is working with Public Safety Canada to share ideas and approaches on effective efforts to combat domestic radicalization.
In particular, the United States is looking to learn how Canadian law enforcement agencies have developed relationships with Muslim communities. For the past several years the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has been actively focusing on reaching out to Muslim communities and other groups that are the target of terrorist investigations. These RCMP efforts are part of its national security outreach program.
Gilles Michaud, the assistant commissioner of the RCMP and head of its national security program, said, “We’re speaking with community leaders to understand their issues and trying to find ways that they can assert themselves in dealing with those issues. It’s providing them with the tools, because it (deterrence) has got to come from the community.”
Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies placed domestic radicalization at the top of its priorities several years ago, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s primary focus is on al Qaeda inspired domestic groups.
In the United States, domestic radicalization only recently became a national priority after a slew of failed attacks were perpetrated by American Muslims.
A study by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security at Duke University found that in 2010 twenty American Muslims had been arrested on charges of terrorism.
At a recent House Homeland Security Committee hearing, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said, that homegrown terrorism and plots inspired or directed by al Qaeda were the greatest threat to the United States.
To combat this growing trend Napolitano said that officials “are working with our international allies who have experience with homegrown terrorism,” including Canada and the United Kingdom.
She added, “These and additional conversations will continue to leverage lessons our partners have learned that may benefit law enforcement in the United States.”
